Readers support regulation of valets operating on public streets
Readers last week responded to the weekly poll felt some level of regulation of valets was needed:
Q: Rules regarding valet parking vary in the St. Louis region. What are your thoughts regarding valet parking on public streets?
- Valets are operating on public streets — they need permits and regulation to keep them under control: 59 [33.33%]
- Valet parking on public streets should take away no more than 2-3 public parking spaces: 53 [29.9%]
- Valet parking should not be allowed on public streets at all: 46 [25.99%]
- They should be allowed to take all the public parking spaces they want to take if they have a permit: 7 [3.95%]
- Unsure: 5 [2.82%]
- Don’t care what they do: 3 [ 1.69%]
- Other answer… 3 [1.69%]
- The operators are just trying to earn a living and provide a need service – they shouldn’t need a permit or be regulated: 1 [0.56%]
The three other answers were:
- They should rent spots at the meter rate from the city perhaps.
- They should take no more than 2-3 public spaces AND they need regulation!
- They should be allowed on public streets BUT not allowed to take away spaces
As more places open in close proximity the more the need to coordinate valet services.
– Steve Patterson
Next steps? How do we move beyond being irritated to taking real action? (I'm never anywhere where this occurs very often, so it's more of an intellectual “problem” for me than a real one.) It's probably going to take one or more affected adjacent businesses turning up the heat on their alderman, or physical violence, to move beyond the status quo. And much like the current complaints about extended meter hours around the Fox Theater, it's also going to take more, later enforcement efforts AND a change in people's attitudes and expectations – remember, the valets are there because there's obviously a demand for what they're offering, they're in it for the money!
I don't think it is a matter of regulations, it is a matter of enforcement. I believe they already have to have permits through the city, but it is the liberties taken by the firms after those permits are issued that seem at odds with a good system of utilizing a public resource of on street spaces.
The permit process is poorly managed. If you ask the city for a permit for a given address they can't tell you if a permit has been issued or not.